The AMBIENT Series contains ambient/soundscape
music which uses
natural, musical and electronic sounds which are designed both to reflect and
shape the atmosphere around
us. Recent releases have been described as 'Soundscapes' due to their extensive use of
field recordings of natural sounds.

AMBIENT I [FORG 01, 2007], AMBIENT
II [FORG 02, 2007] and AMBIENT
VIII [FORG 23, 2016], contain previously released
material. On AMBIENT VIII previously released tracks are
edited together to form one continuous piece, representing a walk - and
possibly a short train ride - through the imaginary city created for the album
A Walk in the Park [FORT 05, 2005].

Progressions II [FORG 24, 2016] illustrates a progression
from musical pieces using sound samples, pieces in which sound samples
influence the music, and finally, pieces composed entirely of live sound
recordings, giving a true Soundscape-style impression of the location. All
tracks, bar one, taken from previous albums.

AMBIENT IV [FORG 04, 2007], introduces one long new piece,
Alien Landscape III, but as this wasn't
long enough to fill the disc, two shorter tracks in a similar style have been
included from the album Return to Devil's Island.

AMBIENT VI [FORG 20, 2015] contains two Alien
Landscapes, one of which is previously unreleased.

YELLING ELEMENTS [FORG 11, 2008] is
a companion album to Yelling Graveley, released simultaneously in
2008, and YELLING DIMENSIONS [FORG 19 2015] is
an album of electronic/ambient pieces using sound material featured on
Yelling Graveley. All material is new.

The CLASSICAL Series is so called because the
music is mostly instrumental and draws largely on the
western classical tradition, ancient and modern, for its sounds and structures.

POPULAR CLASSICS [FORG 06, 2007] focuses more on the
longer,
'serious' pieces; LIGHT CLASSICS [FORG 07, 2007] features
shorter,
more accessible tracks, including some of
the Midland Symphony Orchestra's contributions to the live
progressive rock albums;
PRACTICAL CLASSICS [FORG 16, 2010] consists of chamber pieces,
mostly for a small woodwind ensemble;
PIANO MUSIC [FORG 17, 2012] collects together works for piano
- and
broken piano - from previous
regular albums.

Tracklists:

POPULAR CLASSICS: White Sails in the Wind [4.20]
(Previously
released on Return to Devil's Island (FORT07, 2005); Slow March
[5.40]
(Previously
released on the Birds & The Bees, 2005); Perpendicular Ideal of
the Glasshouse, Pt 1 [7.41]
(2004 remix of track previously released on
Goodbye Finisterre (FORT02, 2003); Long Train Blues, Pt 1 [6.26]
(Previously
released on Walking with Bees (FORT08, 2006); View From the Top
[12.46]
(Previously released
on Walking with Bees, 2006); Temple Bells [25.20] (Previously
released on
Bits & Bobs (FORT09, 2006); River [8.24] (Previously released on
A Walk in the Park (FORT05, 2005)

LIGHT CLASSICS: Fanfare [1.51] (Introduction to
Freefall, previously released on Flotsam & Jetsam
(FORT04, 2004); 3 Pizzas, Lee [4.45] (Previously
unreleased
combination of the 4 versions on Devil's Island Discs and
Flotsam & Jetsam); Losing Faith, Variation 1 [2.07]
(Previously released as part of Losing
Faith on The Birds
& The Bees (FORT06, 2005); Losing Faith, Variation 2
[1.18] (Previously released as Lima Foxtrot on The Birds &
The Bees); Losing Faith, Variation 3 [1.51] (Previously released
as Minor Loss of Faith on
Bits & Bobs (FORT09, 2006);
Losing Faith, Variation 4 [0.33] (Previously released as Elastic
Band on The Birds & The Bees); Losing Faith,
Variation 5 [5.38] (Previously released as
Slow March on The
Birds & The Bees); Losing Faith, Variation 6 [1.36] (Previously
released as Tango Victor on The Birds & The Bees);
The Bee Song [1.24] (Previously released
on The
Birds & The Bees); The Maypole Song [4.20] (Previously released on
The Birds & The Bees); Skyride (Introduction) [3.28]
(Previously released on Bits &
Bobs); The
Shipping Forecast. Pt 12 [2.07] (Previously unreleased remix of the track on
Goodbye Finisterre (FORT02, 2003)
13 From A to Z (Vocal version)(extract) [1.31] (Previously unreleased remix of
the track on Flotsam & Jetsam); Islington, Pt 3 [1.54]
(Previously released on
From Aardvark
to Zebra (FORT01, 2002); Islington (Vocal version) [0.58] (Previously
released
on Flotsam &
Jetsam); Just But See What I Have Done, Pt 2 [3.30] (Previously
released on Walking with Bees (FORT08, 2006); Caravan, Pt 4
(extract)
[2.32] (Previously released on
Caravan (FORT10, 2006);
The Islington March [3.28] (Previously released on Bits & Bobs);
Brass Spy [6.02] (Previously released on Bits & Bobs; Long Train
Blues, Pt 4 [6.28]
(Previously
released on Walking with Bees); Overture [5.06] (future
release date not known)

PRACTICAL CLASSICS: 1. Clarinet Variation 2009
[1.51] A
slight rearrangement of the track from Walking with Bees (FORT 08,
2006), which
was itself a variation on the Losing Faith theme for brass band
from The Birds &
The Bees (FORT 06, 2005). The instrumentation is a wind quintet of
Clarinet,
Bass Clarinet, Flute, Saxophone and Oboe. PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED; 2. Yelling
Woodwind 1 [8.58]; 3.
Yelling Woodwind 2 [9.52]; 4. Yelling Woodwind 3 [7.11]; 5. Yelling Woodwind
4 [9.11]. These pieces are taken from five of the six sections of
Yelling
Graveley (FORT 13, 2008), where, in some cases, parts of these
individual
pieces were originally separated by other material. (Part 5 had no Woodwind
section). A wind quartet of Flute, Saxophone, Clarinet and Bass Clarinet is
joined at intervals by other instruments, not all conventional members of the
orchestra and not all played by professionals; 6. Spectrum Woodwind [13.19].
This piece presents the six individual woodwind pieces (in the order 1 6 4 3 2
5) from the album Symphony No 1 (FORT 14, 2009) as a single
continuous work,
scored for the same wind quintet as track 1. Material from the
Spectrum
electronic music project (FORG 14, 2009) is included where used in the
originals; 7. Postlude [11.23]. This track, from the album
Windsurfing (FORG
15, 2009) has a rather fuller orchestration, but still contains significant
sections using the wind quintet format.

The EXPERIMENTAL Series is designed to contain
the more difficult and 'avant-garde' pieces. All the tracks on the first
release in this series, VOICES [FORG 08, 2007], feature voices
from
the human and animal kingdoms, including examples of the electronic
manipulation of speech known to Fortspring as Sonic
Poetry.

PROGRESSIONS I [FORG 13, 2009], begins with an
entirely tonal orchestral score, and ends with an entirely electronic one,
illustrating some steps along the way from one to the other.

SPECTRUM [FORG 14, 2009], consists entirely of electronic
music
derived from an
audio recording of a computer game cassette - not the sounds from the game, if
it had any, but
the cassette used to load the program onto an early home computer - a
Sinclair Spectrum, in fact, from which the name of the project
derives.

The 5 Movements of WINDSURFING [FORG 15, 2009], are all the
result of electronic
manipulation of recordings of the track Windsong, with 5
orchestral Interludes.

PROTOSYNTHESIS [FORG 18, 2012] is a collection from the
earliest
electronic or synthesised
material from the regular albums.

Tracklists:

VOICES: Picnic (extract) [3.01] (Previously
released on Walking with Bees (FORT 08, 2006);
Islington, Pt 5 [1.13] (Previously released on From Aardvark to
Zebra (FORT 01, 2002) (Voice: Adrian);
On Queensway [1.09] (Previously released on A Walk in the Park
(FORT 05, 2005) (Voice: Andy);
Islington, Pt 2 [0.56] (Previously released on From Aardvark to
Zebra) (Voice: Adrian);
Islington, Pt 4 [1.44] (Previously released on From Aardvark to
Zebra) (Voice: Adrian);
A Night in the Forest [2.29] (Previously released on Devil's Island
Discs (FORT 03, 2004);
A Walk Along the Canal, Pt 1 [0.34] (Previously released on A Walk in the
Park (FORT 05, 2005) (Voice: Andy);
Music from an Imaginary Spy Film (extract) [2.01] (Previously released on
From Aardvark to Zebra) (Voice: Adrian);
A Walk Along the Canal, Pt 2 [0.57] (Previously released on A Walk in the
Park) (Voice: Andy);
90 Years [1.42] (Previously released on Flotsam & Jetsam (FORT 04,
2004)
(Voice: Adrian);
Midnight in the Forest [2.31] (Previously released on Flotsam &
Jetsam);
The Shipping Forecast, Pt 3 [0.46] (Previously unreleased voice-only remix of
track from Goodbye Finisterre (FORT 02, 2003) (Voice: Andy);
The Shipping Forecast, Pt 7 [2.08] (Previously released on Goodbye
Finisterre) (Voice: Andy);
The Shipping Forecast, Pt 8 (extract) [1.22] (Previously released on
Goodbye Finisterre) (Voice: Andy);
Words (spoken introduction) [1.13] (Previously released on From Aardvark
to Zebra) (Voice: Bruce);
I'm Growing Some Bonsai Trees [4.28] (Previously released on From
Aardvark to Zebra) (Voice: Adrian);
Caravan, Pt 2 (extract) [2.07] (Previously released on Caravan
(FORT10, 2006) (Voice: the Band Leader);
Murmurs From Malvern (extract) [6.52] (Previously released on Walking
with Bees (FORT08, 2006) (Voice: Andy);
Merry March and Song (extract) [5.54] (Previously released on Walking
with Bees) (Voice: Julia);
Just But See What I Have Done (extract) [1.16] (Previously released on
Walking with Bees) (Voice: Julia);
Another Egress (extract) [4.02] (Previously released on Flotsam &
Jetsam) (Voices: Bruce, Victoria);
There Are Songs Edit #1 [2.10] (Previously released on Goodbye
Finisterre) (Voice: Victoria);
There Are Songs Edit #2 [4.44] (Previously released on Goodbye
Finisterre) (Voice: Victoria);
Escape from Devil's Island [1.08] (Previously released on Devil's Island
Discs (FORT03, 2004);
Kensington Gardens [0.45] (Previously released on A Walk in the
Park) (Voice: Andy)
All tracks written by Andy Murkin, except Track 2, 4, 8, 10, 16: Text by
Adrian Chilvers; Track 12, 13, 14: Text courtesy The Meteorological Office;
Track 16: text by Andy Murkin and Adrian Chilvers;
Track 18: Text by T.Watson; Track 19, 20: Text by J.N.Kidd

PROGRESSIONS I: River [8.24] (Previously released on
A Walk in the Park (FORT 05, 2005); Slow March [5.38] (Previously
released
on The Birds & The Bees [FORT 06, 2005]); View From The Top [12.44]
(Previously released on Walking With Bees [FORT08, 2006]); The
Distant Sound of Roaring Dogs (extract) [6.07] (Previously released on
Yelling
Graveley [FORT 13, 2008]); SOS/Becalmed (Previously released on
Return
to Devil's Island [FORT 07, 2005]) [18.18]; Air (extract) (Previously
released on
Yelling Elements [FORG 11, 2008]) [7.05]; Water (extract)
(Previously
released on Yelling Elements) [6.42]

The EASY LISTENING Series gathers together
tracks of a less challenging nature, whether they be jazzy,
slow or 'new age-y'. SMOOTH SOUNDS [FORG 09, 2007], is the
first
release in this series; AEOLUS TO ZEPHYR [FORG 12, 2008],
contains
remixes and rearrangements of previously released pieces related in one way or
another to the wind.